Associate Software Engineer (College Grad 2026)

Solace • Redwood City, CA

1d • Onsite

About The Position

Solace is a healthcare advocacy marketplace that connects patients and families to experts who help them understand and take charge of their personal health About the Role Are you a new grad who wants to build something that matters from day one? At Solace, you won't be relegated to small bug fixes or endless onboarding—you'll ship real features to real users within your first weeks. This isn't a hand-holding job. You'll be challenged daily, expected to move fast, learn faster, and take ownership of your work like a seasoned engineer. You'll join a spectacularly talented team who will push you to grow, but you'll also be expected to think independently, ask the right questions, and own your work from design through deployment. You will commit code daily. You will make mistakes. You will learn from them and get better every single day. If you're the kind of person who wants to be thrown into the deep end and come out stronger, keep reading. You are scrappy, resourceful, and eager to prove yourself. You don't need all the answers—you need the drive to find them. You're not afraid of ambiguity or hard problems; in fact, they excite you. You take feedback like fuel, and you're looking for a place that will invest in making you exceptional, not comfortable. This is an in person role in our Redwood City office, 3 days a week. About Solace Healthcare in the U.S. is fundamentally broken. The system is so complex that 88% of U.S. adults do not have the health literacy necessary to navigate it without help. Solace cuts through the red tape of healthcare by pairing patients with expert advocates and giving them the tools to make better decisions—and get better outcomes. We're a Series B startup, founded in 2022 and backed by Menlo Ventures, Inspired Capital, Craft Ventures, Torch Capital, SignalFire and other leading investors. Our fully remote U.S. team is lean, mission-driven, and growing quickly. Solace isn't a place to coast. We're here to redefine healthcare—and that demands urgency, precision, and heart. If you're looking to stretch yourself, sharpen your edge, and do the best work of your life alongside a team that cares deeply, you're in the right place. We’re intense, and we like it that way. Read more in our Wall Street Journal funding announcement here. Why Join as a New Grad? Most companies will have you shadow people for six months. We'll have you shipping code in weeks. Most companies will give you toy projects. We'll give you real problems that matter. You'll grow faster here in one year than you would in three years at a big tech company. It will be hard. You will struggle. And you will come out the other side a dramatically better engineer. This is not a job for someone looking for work-life balance metrics or a gentle onboarding process. This is for the new grad who wants to prove they can compete with engineers who have years of experience. If that's you, we can't wait to meet you. Applicants must be based in the United States. Up for the Challenge? We look forward to meeting you. Fraudulent Recruitment Advisory: Solace Health will NEVER request bank details or offer employment without an interview. All legitimate communications come from official solace.health emails only or ashbyhq.com. Report suspicious activity to [email protected] or [email protected].

Requirements

• A bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field (or equivalent practical experience)—graduating between December 2025 and June 2026.
• Solid fundamentals in data structures, algorithms, and software design.
• Experience with at least one modern programming language (TypeScript, JavaScript, Python, Java, etc.).
• Projects that show you can build real things—personal projects, hackathons, internships, open source contributions. We care about what you've shipped, not just what you studied.
• A hunger to learn and an ego small enough to admit when you don't know something.
• Grit. You don't give up when things get hard. You Google, you ask questions, you figure it out.
• Strong communication skills. You can explain your thinking, take feedback without defensiveness, and collaborate with people who aren't engineers.
• Extreme bias toward action. You'd rather ship something imperfect and iterate than wait for perfect.

Nice To Haves

• Bonus if you've worked with TypeScript, React, or Node.js.

Responsibilities

• Ship production code in your first week—real features that impact real users.
• Build across the stack, from database queries to API endpoints to UI components, learning the full lifecycle of software development.
• Take ownership of features end-to-end. You'll be accountable for what you build, and you'll feel the weight and pride of that responsibility.
• Work directly with senior engineers, product managers, and designers. You'll have mentorship, but you'll also be expected to drive your own work forward.
• Debug production issues, refactor messy code, and improve systems—not glamorous, but essential, and you'll learn more from this than any bootcamp could teach you.
• Move fast and iterate. We deploy continuously, and you'll see your code in production within hours, not weeks.
• Participate in code reviews, architectural discussions, and product planning. Your voice matters here, even on day one.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Number of Employees: 11-50 employees